Reading the Interface

The interface of The Sims series has always been a paragon of organization, even if it became a bit cluttered in later expansions. Luckily, it’s as easy to read as ever in Sims 3, though it has been organized differently.

On the far left side of the interface is a portrait of every Sim in your family. Clicking any of them will select that Sim so you can give orders. Below that are the camera controls, as well as the button to open the menu to save, exit to the neighborhood, exit the game entirely, and so on. Also there are buttons to take screenshots or the button to start the in-game movie recorder. You can also adjust the display of walls for your house, and change floors that you can see.

To the right of that are buttons that take you to Live Mode, Buy Mode, and Build Mode. Live Mode is what you’re doing now, living the virtual life. Buy Mode allows you to purchase stuff for the house, and Build Mode lets you expand the building itself. We’ll touch on these later, once they become relevant.

The rest of the interface is specific to the Sim you have selected. To the immediate right of the mode buttons is a display of your Sim’s current wish and promises. The wish is what the Sim desires at that moment. If you click the picture of it, you “promise” this wish to the Sim. In this case, Seth’s wish is to join the military career track. By clicking the little tank, I promise him I will let him do so. Breaking the promise—if I make him do a different career—or canceling the promise doesn’t have a penalty attached, so don’t worry if you change your mind. If I fulfill the promise however, he gets a bit happier.

The military career is my intent for him anyway, so I go ahead and make the promise, which moves the picture to the four below it. Now he has no current wish (mostly because I’ve got the game paused), but he has something to look forward to.

While this wish was self-explanatory, some may not be, especially if you’ve just started the game. If you mouse over it, however, the game will give you a quick explanation how to fulfill it.

To the right of that are the time controls and a picture of the Sim’s lifetime wish that you selected. Also there are the date and time. If you mouse over that small line that gives the date and time, a tooltip will pop up that tells you exactly how long you’ve been playing this family in Sim time. Right now it reads “Week 1, Day 1,” though probably by the time I’m done with the Schultzes we’ll be in week 20 or more!

To the right of that is where the real action is! The first meter, a vertical one, is the overall mood meter. This goes up as the Sim is in better shape, and goes down as they get upset. As Sims get into better moods, they are more inclined to follow your orders. Sims in bad moods especially will refuse to do displeasurable tasks like cleaning or studying. The little bubble at the top of the mood meter is, to explain it best, a mood overdrive. When the mood is that high, the Sim gets a constant influx of Lifetime Happiness Points, which we’ll go over soon.

To the right of the mood meter is a picture of any buffs or debuffs (the game properly calls them “moodlets”) the Sim has. These effects are typically based on some action the Sim has taken. For example, a Sim who bathes will often have the Squeaky Clean buff, meaning he just feels clean for several game hours, and feels good (i.e., gets a bit of a mood boost) as a result.

To the right of the moodlets display is an arrow that expands or collapses the “Sim Panels,” a series of eight tabs that give any essential information for your Sims. The first tab is the Simology Panel, which lists the Sim’s name, family tree, age, favorites, biography, and traits. The panel is background information only, and doesn’t really have much bearing on the day-to-day activities, other than the age.

The second tab is the Relationship Panel, which lists every other Sim the current Sim knows. You can mouse over their portrait to get more information, and click the filter buttons to see a specific group. Relationships are simplified to a single meter without numbers, but it’s still pretty clear where you stand with a Sim. We’ll deal more with relationships later.

The third tab is the Employment Panel. Once your Sim has a job, you’ll get to see what career you’re on, how much he’s making every day, which days he works, and what skills he needs to get promoted.

The fourth tab is the Skills Panel, which tells you what your Sim can do. Skills are attained through various actions, and we’ll deal with those when they become relevant too.

The fifth tab shows you the Sim’s inventory. All Sims are equipped with a cell phone at all times, and all Sims start off with an item or two. Anything else your Sims earn go here, and you can drag furniture and other things into your backpack here to carry them around. Sims have huge pockets!

The sixth tab is the Opportunity Panel. Based on your career, skills, and other situations, you may get a chance to do something special with this Sim. We’ll detail that too later, once Seth or Holly get an opportunity. For now, just remember that this is where you go to activate them.

The seventh tab is the Lifetime Rewards Panel. As you fulfill promises and wishes, the Sim gains Lifetime Happiness points, which you can cash in here for Lifetime Rewards. We’ll go over those in another section, but they’re all useful with no downsides.

The final tab is the Needs Panel, which is probably where you’ll spend most of your time. This lists six needs: hunger, social, bladder, hygiene, energy, and fun. Hunger is filled as the Sim eats. Bladder is filled (ironically) when the Sim uses the bathroom. Social is filled as the Sim interacts with others, though what may fill one Sim’s Social Need could actually lower another Sim’s, so personality plays a role here. Hygiene is filled when the Sim bathes. Energy is filled when the Sim sleeps. Fun is filled when a Sim does an activity he enjoys, which is also based on personality.

For Sims vets, you’ll notice that the Environment and Comfort are gone. Instead, those issues are affected by personality and just directly affect the mood. For example, a Slob Sim doesn’t care about messes everywhere, so it would have no effect. Neat Sims, however, would take a serious hit to their moods if they were surrounded by flies and dirty dishes.

Now that you’ve got a handle on the interface, it’s time to unpause and start exploring Sunset Valley!